His national press secretary, Erick Sanchez, confirmed the decision. It came as he expected a poor performance in New Hampshire’s primary.
The 45-year-old was one of the breakout stars of the Democratic primary race, building a following that started largely online but expanded to give him enough donors and polling numbers to qualify for the first six debates.
One of Yang’s campaign promises was to give Americans $1,000 a month, known as the “freedom dividend.”
Yang wasn’t the first nontraditional candidate to make a White House bid, and few had been successful. There have only been four presidents age 46 — the age Yang would have been on Inauguration Day — or younger, and the majority of presidents have served as governors, senators, vice presidents or Cabinet members. Only one has not held political office and has no military experience: Trump.
His poll numbers were high enough, combined with his fundraising strength, to qualify for him for all of the 2019 debates, though he fell short of Democratic National Committee’s qualifications to participate in the January debate in Iowa.
He qualified for the February debate in New Hampshire.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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